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Roles and permissions

Every person in a silo has a role that decides what they're allowed to do, from sending messages to changing the silo's settings.

Security note: Roles control who can manage a silo, but they don't change its encryption. Messages stay end-to-end encrypted for everyone in the silo, whatever their role.

How roles work

Each member of a silo has one of three roles:

  • Member — the default. Can read and send messages, and take part like anyone else.
  • Moderator — everything a Member can do, plus help keep the silo tidy: remove messages and remove people who break the rules.
  • Admin — full control of the silo: change its name, topic, and settings, manage who can join, and give other people roles (including making someone else an Admin).

Whoever creates a silo is its first Admin. A silo can have more than one Moderator and more than one Admin. Roles apply to one silo at a time — giving someone a role in one silo doesn't change what they can do anywhere else.

View and change someone's role

You need to be an Admin to change roles in a silo.

On Web & Desktop

  1. Open the silo, then open Silo info.
  2. Select People to see the member list.
  3. Select the person whose role you want to view or change.
  4. Under Role in this silo, choose Member, Moderator, or Admin.
  5. Confirm the change.

On iOS

  1. Open the silo, then tap the silo name to open Silo info.
  2. Tap People.
  3. Tap the person you want to manage.
  4. Under Role in this silo, choose Member, Moderator, or Admin.
  5. Confirm the change.

On Android

  1. Open the silo, then tap the silo name to open Silo info.
  2. Tap People.
  3. Tap the person you want to manage.
  4. Under Role in this silo, choose Member, Moderator, or Admin.
  5. Confirm the change.

What each role can do

Action Member Moderator Admin
Read and send messages Yes Yes Yes
Remove other people's messages No Yes Yes
Remove (kick) a member No Yes Yes
Invite people to the silo Depends on settings Yes Yes
Change the silo name, topic, and avatar No No Yes
Change access and privacy settings No No Yes
Change other people's roles No No Yes

Some abilities, such as who can invite others, are set per silo and can be opened up to Members. You'll find these under the silo's settings.

Good to know

  • You can't set someone to a role higher than your own, and you can't remove or override another Admin unless you're an Admin yourself.
  • Promoting someone to Admin gives them the same control you have, including the ability to change your role. Only do this for people you trust to manage the silo.
  • If you're the only Admin, hand the role to someone else before you leave the silo. A silo with no Admin can't have its settings changed by anyone.
  • Removing a message hides it for everyone, but people who already read it may remember its contents. Removing someone from the silo doesn't delete the messages they already sent.
  • Roles are per silo. In a workspace, each silo keeps its own roles — being an Admin of one silo doesn't make you an Admin of the others.

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